New options for purchasing a car priced at 700 million VND, including luxury electric vehicles

In the budget segment, the 700 million VND price range continues to attract the attention of Vietnamese users. Understanding the increasing demand of customers, car manufacturers constantly introduce new products with diverse designs, such as some names below.

BYD Dolphin

On July 18, the first three electric models of BYD were officially priced in Vietnam. Among them, the Dolphin is the most affordable: 659 million VND for a single version.

The BYD Dolphin has no direct competitors in Vietnam as it is positioned in the B-segment hatchback category. When considering in the electric car segment, the Chinese model could fit between the VinFast VF 5 and VF 6, but the two Vietnamese products are positioned as crossovers.

The BYD Dolphin is imported from China (Photo: BYD).

Compared to similar-sized gasoline models, the BYD Dolphin is significantly more expensive. The Suzuki Swift is priced at 559.9 million VND; the Mazda2 Sport is distributed with two versions priced between 527-544 million VND.

However, the Chinese electric car can still be seen as a fresh choice for users who are interested in "green" technology, with a budget under 700 million VND.

The BYD Dolphin is equipped with a 95 horsepower engine, maximum torque of 180Nm. The 44.9 kWh battery pack provides a maximum range of 405km after each full charge (Photo: BYD).

Initially, when purchasing the Dolphin or other electric models being distributed by BYD Vietnam, customers will receive a handheld charging device, a 7kW wall-mounted charging set (free installation), and a power conversion device. With the home charger, the Dolphin takes about 7-8 hours to fully charge the battery.

The company does not develop an exclusive charging station system like VinFast. Users can use public charging stations developed by third-party units such as EV One, EverChare, Eboost... but the coverage is not extensive and the cost is not cheap.

If using the fast charging station of EV One, the BYD Dolphin only takes about 30 minutes to charge from 30-80% of the battery. However, the charging cost is 9,900 VND/kWh and there are only 3 stations in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City; most of the other EV One stations have a power of 11kW or 22kW, with a charging fee of 7,900 VND/kWh.

Nissan Navara EL 2WD Upgrade

Recently, the Nissan Navara 2024 was introduced to Vietnamese users. This is just a slight upgrade version, mainly reducing the selling price to increase competitiveness with rivals such as Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

However, the Japanese carmaker attracted attention by adding a new version called EL 2WD Upgrade, priced at 699 million VND (equivalent to the old standard version price before the reduction). The equipment of this variant is mostly similar to the standard EL 2WD version, but it includes a 10-inch entertainment screen, bed liner, and step boards.

The Nissan Navara EL 2WD Upgrade still uses halogen front lights, parabolic reflectors (Photo: Pham Quyen).

The safety features of Nissan Navara EL 2WD Upgrade are basic, but the addition of a 10-inch entertainment screen helps to increase accessibility to customers interested in convenience.

The multi-link rear suspension system is still a competitive advantage of this pickup model, as competitors are still using traditional leaf spring suspension.

Mitsubishi Xforce Ultimate

Although not a new name, the Mitsubishi Xforce Ultimate is still an attractive choice in the 700 million VND price range. This top-of-the-line version is priced at 705 million VND, available for sale from mid-June.

The Mitsubishi Xforce is positioned in the B-segment urban SUV category, a group of cars that are receiving a lot of attention from Vietnamese customers (Photo: Nguyen Lam).

In the highest-end version, the Mitsubishi Xforce is equipped with an 8-speaker Dynamic Sound Yamaha Premium system and the Mitsubishi Motors Safety Sensing (MMSS) active safety technology package.

Aside from the features already available on the Premium version such as blind-spot warning and cross-traffic alert when reversing, the Ultimate variant adds adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning & mitigation, forward vehicle start notification, and automatic headlight mode switching between high and low beam.

Compared to the active safety system of competitors such as Honda HR-V or Toyota Yaris Cross, the Mitsubishi Xforce Ultimate still lacks some features (Photo: Nguyen Lam).

Although a new product (launched in early 2024), the Mitsubishi Xforce has quickly gained the favor of Vietnamese customers. Statistics for the first 6 months of the year show that this model sold a total of 3,890 units, the highest in the B and B+ urban SUV segment.